Angel and Dazzler Alone at Last Chapter 7

Alison remained quiet through the limo ride and during the flight back up to Warren's apartment. Warren led her inside and turned on the fireplace that she really hadn't paid attention to before. Then he set her up with a glass of some Saint Angel wine or something like that in an overstuffed chair by the fire. More wine. It never seemed far from his fingertips. She sighed and sipped it. The stuff tasted strong and almost like it had an aftertaste of coffee beans. She gave her glass an odd look then sighed and went back to watching the flames in the fireplace.

The tour began soon, Warren finally had his confidence back, there was no way he would wait for her for another 8 months. She wondered if Glen managed to realize she was a mutant. Reviewing his words in her mind it seemed possible but if so, he managed to be quite subtle about it. Glen didn't really do subtle well. Maybe he didn't. Would she lose her band mates, too? What possessed her to push on with using her powers? The more she did it, the harder it would be to stop again. And Warren wouldn't be around for all of her shows. She needed to remember she had only herself to keep her safe out on the road. This lovely dream needed to come to an end.

She heard Warren talking from the kitchen, "We've had quite a day today, don't you agree? Theater, dancing, your concert, and now dinner, made by your own personal chef. Me. I promise you that I've improved since out days in Australia. So I hope you are hungry."

"Mmm-hmm. I'm sure I can eat," she replied in a vaguely disinterested tone. The smell of mushrooms and garlic filtered over to her. She couldn't help wondering how many girls he impressed with this new trick. Her drink soured her stomach. She shouldn't be ruining this. It might well be the last night they ever have together. Why couldn't she just play along and act nice? Maybe because it felt wrong. She loved him. But she couldn't stay here just for him. He'd never accept that. Warren needed a trophy wife to sit on his arm and look good at the annual picnic. She couldn't do that. She just couldn't. So he would move on and find someone else. A lump formed in her throat. She tried to drink it down and immediately regretted it.

"The play's themes reminded me of the plight of mutants, did you think so as well?" Warren said from the confines of the kitchen. Anger welled up over the bitterness on her tongue and in her heart.

Turning towards him, she replied, "I think everyone thought they knew what was best for the girl when all she really wanted to do was sing." Trying to keep the anger from her voice made her bite off each word sharply. Take that, fly-boy. She wished he would just stop trying to talk to her for a while. He quieted for a bit and she sank into her melancholy. Maybe it was better if it ended in a fiery heap instead of a quiet note in the morning. The scent of wine rose into the air to mingle with the mushrooms. She turned her gaze to the deep red tones of the liquid in the glass, unseeing.

Then his voice broke in on her thoughts once more. "I wanted to thank you again for the dance in the park. I would never have thought to try dancing outside like that if it weren't for you. I want you to know how special it was for me and how special you are to me as well."

"Yeah, sure," she said out loud, as if bored. Under her breath she muttered, "For as long as it lasts. Once you sober up you'll realize you can have any woman you want again."

She didn't think he heard her. But Warren's senses were keen indeed. She should have remembered that. The noise from the kitchen ceased. Pans slid about and Warren walked over to where she sat. He didn't join her in the chairs scattered around but arranged himself by the fire and gestured for her to sit with him. Trying to take what little she could from the moment, she joined him and he pulled her over to sit in front of him where she could watch the firelight dance. Taking her hands in his from behind, he said, "Let me tell you about Candy."

"Scott and I used to have a crush on the same girl, Jean Grey when we were studying at Xavier's Institute together. In the end, she chose Scott and in my frustration, I got pretty wild." Alison felt Warren's fingers squeeze hers for a moment as he gathered his thoughts and continued. "I really couldn't understand why she picked Scott over me. It's not that I begrudged the man; it just hurt. So I went out and started chasing every girl I could. I came out as a mutant, Professor Xavier wanted me to show the world mutants weren't all scary, but I'm sure I made him shake his head some at my exploits. I made the papers all right. But everything changed when I went out to a spot I thought I knew that had turned into a new club. There I ran into Candy."

Alison heard a nostalgic tone enter into Warren's voice, an unexpected softness as he spoke of this woman who had been his childhood friend. He told her of how this woman, Candice Southern or "Candy" as she clearly preferred, came into his life again after his graduation from the Xavier Institute. Candy came from a well-to-do family and lived close by to Warren's family when they were kids. They played together as children and Warren had not seen her since he first went to prep school and finally transferred over to Professor Xavier's special school for gifted children.

Candy sounded impressive, she went out on her own to the big city and got a job at the United Nations, probably as a clerk or a personal assistant, but still! And then she continued to take night courses. It didn't surprise Alison at all that Warren wound up taken by this dark-haired wonder. How could Alison even hold a candle to someone like that. Her heart sank, but she continued to listen.

Warren boasted a little too much about the exclusiveness of the Xavier Institute and Candy suddenly wanted to apply as well. Alison saw in her mind's eye Warren suddenly trying to backpedal and change the subject by asking to dance. Then even that fell apart for him as he received a mental summons by the Professor himself and claimed he had to run an errand. Clearly Warren knew he blew it, but Candy accepted his excuse and agreed to see him again later. Alison knew that only a girl who really liked someone would put up with something that lame. Candy must have liked Warren for a long time.

To Alison's surprise, Warren said they started dating exclusively, even though he was a mutant and she was a human. He avoided the issue as long as he could, which meant he didn't rush into sex with this girl. He liked her.

It shocked her far more to hear that Warren realized he could be rebounding from Jean Grey and decided to take it slow on purpose, not just out of necessity of not revealing his mutation. Warren really did grow up some while she was gone!

Then came a big bombshell. His uncle showed up as a super-villain called "The Dazzler". Alison's eyes flew open wide and she sucked in a sharp breath. It took a lot to hold it in, but she didn't dare interrupt now. Someone else came into Warren's life using her codename? And worse, this Dazzler killed his father? It seemed that his uncle Burt also kidnapped Candy and she saw Warren's wings during the rescue. The idiot started a fight as Warren tried to carry him and Candy to safety and he lost his grip on them both. With only time to save one, he chose the woman he loved. Oh, poor Warren! Alison worked to keep her breath even. What a terrible choice to have to make.

But Warren's story didn't end there. Warren's voice took on a heavier note as he picked up the threads of the tale once more. "We agreed to take a break for a while so she could decide how she felt about all this. Without her I wandered through my daily routine but I couldn't stop thinking about her. She discovered that my uncle didn't die in the fall and had shown up in town to ask my widowed mother to marry him. Candy came to the mansion to warn me and we raced off to stop him. But my mother claimed to be in love and the asshole tried to ask me to be his best man. I wanted to clean his clock but my mother was ill. Our family physician, the man who birthed me even, warned me that my mother was in a fragile state and that I should go along with it.

Turns out my uncle had been poisoning my mother. And my doctor not only knew, he helped! He hated mutants so he sided with my murderous uncle and helped him kill my own mother and planned to help get rid of me as well. I beat my uncle but we were too late to save my mother.

She saw my wings and thought I had turned into a real angel to carry her off to heaven. So…I did. I picked up my dying mother and flew into the bright sky with her, circling around until she died right there in my arms. I tried to go on but I finally quit the X-men. I needed to start my own life. Candy and I lived together and she took care of the Worthington business ledgers while I decided to reveal to the world that I was a mutant. I founded or funded various super groups and Candy stayed with me through it all."

Alison's mind reeled. This "Dazzler" killed off Warren's father and his mother? How he must hate the sound of her codename by now. She had no idea. All this time she imagined him continuing on with his life as he had before she left, healthy and happy, continuing with his playboy ways. Instead, horror after horror crashed in on his world. No one breathed word one about this to her. She deeply regretted not keeping in touch with anyone, not even Bobby now. But the tale continued and grew darker still.

Warren confessed that despite everything he never fully settled down with Candy, he kept flirting with other women and finally his old college roommate, Cameron Hodge whom he made the PR head for X-Factor sent Candy up to see him as he tried to console Jean Grey. Candy walked in on Warren kissing Jean on the head and exploded on him. Her last words still haunted him.

"I've overlooked your philandering before, but this is the limit! And you, Jean Grey…haven't' you wrecked enough relationships? Enough lives?" And she walked out on him. Nothing he said could get her to turn around and change her mind. His amorous ways finally caught up with him with disastrous results.

Warren's voice sounded choked as he said, "And the worst thing was, I wasn't trying to cheat on her. I just wanted to console a friend." Alison stared at the fire and knew he told her the truth. Oh, if only Candy had known!

Alison could feel the raggedness of Warren's next breath and braced herself. This must be about his wings at last. "But she didn't end up in that room by accident. Cameron Hodge turned out to be a snake in the grass. He diverted funds from Worthington industries and X-factor to fund a mutant hunting group. Candy uncovered all this and when she found out, he killed her. He abducted the woman I loved for years and lobotomized her to buy her silence. But he kept her alive, waiting for me to come to him. He took my fortune and turned my resources against me, he arranged for the doctors to think my wings were gangrenous and had them removed against my will while I was in the hospital, he booby-trapped my plane and nearly killed me, and finally, I survived to see this. Cameron Hodge stood over my beloved Candy, a knife at her throat, and grinned as he slit it right in front of me.

I snapped. I slammed my new wings together and took his head from his shoulders in a single instant. And in that moment, I lost what little piece of my soul remained to me. I stopped being an "angel" and became a cold-blooded killer. And with the blood still fountaining from his body, spraying over me, I knelt down and cradled my beloved as the last of her life's blood ran down her neck and over my hands. I could have restored her from a lobotomy, we have people skilled enough to heal even that. But they can't fix death. And I finally cried. I sat there and cried. I found out later, how much she still cared for me despite our break-up. She managed to save my business despite my uncle and Cameron's efforts, but she lost her life because of me.

The whole thing went over quietly. I had enough money to keep the papers out. My lawyers handled it and it was ruled self-defense. And then I sank back into the dank pit I had hidden in before Cypher called and made me an offer to get some new wings. If I hadn't tried to cut everyone out, I could have saved her. I didn't take her calls, I didn't listen to her, I didn't even know she had been captured. Worst of all, I never even married her. I loved her so much but I let her die never knowing she meant that much to me. All of it was because I couldn't bring myself to commit. She died never knowing the truth. I loved her. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. And I never got to tell her."

Warren shuddered against her and drew one of his hands away. The pause lengthened. And she knew without turning that Warren was crying. It seemed like he wouldn't go on but at last he cleared his throat and said, "But as much as I loved Candy, and I truly loved her, it is nothing compared to what I feel for you." Looking deep into her eyes he said, "Alison, I love you."

Oh, Angel, oh, Warren, she thought. His life had been a living hell while she drifted in Europe. Her heart went out to him. He thought he was a monster now. He fell from the glorious heights to come crashing to earth, a fallen angel with no one to save him. She turned to him and stared. His eyes were red and the firelight betrayed the trails left by the tears he shed just trying to speak to her.

What do you say to that? So great were the depths of his misery, how could she claim to understand? How hollow the words "I'm sorry" would ring to such an outpouring. She never dreamed Warren could love so much or so deeply. And she wished she had met Candy, even once. She must have been an amazing person to win his heart. She couldn't even be jealous. Alison wondered if they could have even been friends if things had gone differently. His eyes were on her, searching, she realized he had to be dying inside waiting to see if she would judge him and abandon him.

When words fail, actions must speak. Leaning forward she pressed her lips against his and brought up her hands to cup his face. She felt him sit stock still for a moment before finally allowing himself to lean into it. It lacked the burning passion of the past few days, instead she gave it to him with great gentleness, fearful of bruising his lips after all the bruises that lay upon his soul. He returned it with equal slowness and gentleness. His hand came up and covered hers. She poured into the kiss all the things she couldn't say. She hadn't been there for him before, but she was here for him now.

But finally she pulled away, reluctantly, and watched him settle back with a sigh. He seemed to shrink in on himself, the telling having taken all of his energy. She knew she needed to tell him the truth about her own past. If they were to have any chance at a future together, they needed to be honest right here, right now.

"Warren, let me tell you about my past," she said. And she took his hands in hers and turned around to lean settle into the crook of his arm, her head resting on his shoulder and looked into the heart of the flames as she began her tale.